Chiefs' Romeo Crennel again indicates Ricky Stanzi playing is unlikely

For the 259th time this season, KC Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel indicated that Ricky Stanzi is unlikely to play. At 2-12, seeing a new quarterback play is one of the few things that could possibly maybe get me excited but alas it doesn't appear likely to happen.

Stanzi is on the "show team" or the scout team, which practices against the Chiefs starters during the week prepping for the game.

"On the show team, you have to show that you've improved your fundamentals because the show team is not a real test because you're running off cards and we circle the guy we want him to throw to," Crennel said on Thursday, via comments sent out by the Chiefs. "He doesn't have to read the coverage and all those things.

"To his credit, he tries to read the coverage, know what coverage that's being called even though the guy is circled and he's going to throw to that circled guy. But he tries to see what the coverage is and know what the coverage is and know whether he should have gone to the guy who is circled.

"Many times he'll come back and say, ‘This is a setup. I wouldn't throw to that guy normally. And I say, ‘I appreciate that Ricky, but we need to see the ball go to this particular spot.'"

So what about actually getting him on the field? Let's see him in there. Why not?

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

"You can tell a little bit that he's into it mentally by things like that, but getting him on the field becomes more difficult, not only him but there are many guys who are behind other guys. You take anybody behind Tamba Hali, he can show improvement, but his chances of getting on the field are not going to be great unless there is an injury situation. So, that's kind of what you're dealing with."

That Tamba Hali example Romeo used is basically indicating that the Chiefs feel Brady Quinn and Matt Cassel are better players than Stanzi, right? Quinn and Cassel, as you know, have been two of the worst starting quarterbacks in football this season. So that sure seems as close as we'll get to a Chiefs coach saying Stanzi just isn't good enough.

Stanzi, for his part, says he is not frustrated and disappointed by the lack of playing time.

"I'm not disappointed or frustrated by it," Stanzi said. "I'm just going to keep working, try to get better everyday - and there's a lot of things I have to get better at. And that's where my focus is, not so much on other players in the league and what they're doing."

I know this is just a canned answer but I'd want my third string quarterback to be pissed off about it. I'd want him working his ass off so much to prove to the coach how wrong he was so that he can't help but move him up on the depth chart. Being content with the status quo is a good recipe for failure.

When I was a little kid I played baseball at the 3&2 league in Kansas City, the same league David Cone once played in. (Yes, that David Cone.) Anyway, the legend goes (and I have no idea if it's true) that he was once cut by a team when he was playing out there. The story goes that after he was cut he told the coach, 'You can't cut me. I'm too good.' The rest is history. That's the type of attitude I like. Again, I'm not saying Stanzi's not like that. There's only so much we see. We don't know because Chiefs players are incapable or unwilling to show any of their real personality or feelings in front of the media.

The rise of Stanzi nation can both thank and curse Mel Kiper for dropping Tom Brady's name on ESPN before that draft.